Propelling mechanism for airplanes



F.1.BAUIVIAN.

PROP`ELL|NG MECHANISNI FOR AIRPLANES.

APPLICATON FILED JAN.17|1918.

Patented June e.24, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

bv mm.

will, Il.. n

X I l LETYJQL F. J. BAUMAN. PRoEELLING MECH/amm ma mums.

yAPPLICATION FILED IAN. 1T. 19|8. Y Patented June 24, m19.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l nvm/145m gether with manually f NTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE. 7

FRANK J'. BAUMAN, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A-SSIGNOR 0F ONE-THIRD TO HARRY M. LAU AND ONE-THIRD TO DELBERT M. WHITE, BOTH OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

\ PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR AIRPLANES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 24., 1919.

Application ined January 17, 191s. serial No. 212,321.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK J. BAUMAN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Detroit, inthe county of Wayne and l(tate of Michigan, have invented a new and useful lPropelling Mechanism for Airplanes, of which the following is a specification.

T his invention relates to machines for aerial navigation and particularly to means for propelling such machines.

The main object of the invention is to provide improved driving mechanism especially adapted for machines of the bilplane type, by which the machine may be caused to rise from the ground more abruptly than usual and within a comparatively shorter initial running space, and which may be so controlled in descending as to enable a safe landing of the machine within such limited space.

'llhe invention in attaining this object con? templates the provlslon of manually controlled means, in connection with the transmission of power from the engine to the main propeller, by which the propeller shaft may be swung vertically in the arc of a cirele to tilt the propeller angularly relative to the planes of the machine so as to vertically deflect the driving force and course thereof, and also to provide for operation in conjunction with the above means an auxiliary horizontally rotatable propeller mounted upon a vertical axis intermediate the ends of the machine and the upper and lower `planes thereof for exerting lifting force thereon in a vertical direction,V to controlled means for effecting a releasable driving connection with the engine to enable the auxiliary propeller to be driven in unison with themain propeller particularly when operatiner in its angular p'ositions of adjustment as w ien ascending or descending and to be disengaged as when themachine is in Hight with the main propeller operating in the normal posltion.

lln carrying out-the present invention I have illustrated in the accon'ipanying drawings one embodiment of the essential features by which the above objects are attained, in connection with which certain structural features relating to the planes and body of the machine as shown are substantially the same as is disclosed in a copeuding application for patent filed by lne January 4, 1918, under Serial No. 210,356, and whlch are not included herewith further than to illustrate the application of th .present invention thereto.

designates in general the. frame-work or body of a bi-plane which may be of any suitable or known form and the particular structural arrangement herein shown forms the subject matter of a co-pending application before referred to and need not be described herein other than in general terms.

Mounted in the forward end of the body 2 of the lower portion of the'machine is an engine 3 having a rearwardly extending crank case terminating in an inclosed gear case 4 into which the crank shaft 5 of the engine extends. Extending vertically from the gear case 4 is a tubular standard or sleeve 6 in which is journaled to rotate about a vertical axis a shaft 7 which'extends at its lower end into the gear case 4 and carries fixed thereon a beveled gear 8 in mesh with a beveled gear 9 fixed on the engine siaft 5. The upper end of the vertical shaft 7 extends into a cylindrical gear case 10 formed on the upper end of the sleeve (3, and fixed on this end of said shaft is a beveled pinion 11 1n mesh with a gear 12 loosely mounted to rotate upon a horizontal rock shaft 13 which is journaled at opposite ends respectively in bearings 14 formed in the ends of the gear case 10. See lfig. 2.

Mounted in a peripheral opening 15 in the wall of the cylindrical gear ease 10 is a bearn ing box 16 having arcuate grooves 17 in opposite edges thereof which receive the respective walls of said opening and slidablyretain said bearing box therein, and journaled in this bearing box and extending centrally into the gear Case 1() is the main propeller shaft 18, the inner end ofwhich extends through and is secured to rotate in the rockshaft 13. The outer end ofthe propeller shaft 18, which carries the main propeller 19, is supported in a journal bearing 20 which is mounted to slide in a guide-way 21 lcharacters of reference on the drawings, 1 f

, ted lines in Fig. 1, r liftingppower exerted by the propeller will Athe propeller` cally in the arc of a circle concentric with v"near the rear of the machine,

formed in an arcuate support 22 arranged pinion 24 fixed' on a control shaft 25 which extends from said casing to a point adjacent the drivers seat 26, and carries a hand wheel 27 through the rotation of which motion is imparted to turn the rock-shaft and swing shaft Vand its bearings vertithe axis of said rock-shaft. The `power transmitted from the engine shaft to the vertical shaft 7 is imparted to drive the pro peller shaft inany of its positions of adjustment through a beveled pinion 28 fixed on the end thereof within the gear case 10 and meshing with the gear 12 loosely carried by the roc -shaft.13.

When the main propeller is raised to oper,- ate in an angular position relative to the planes of the machine, as indicated byl dotit is apparent that the end of the' machine in advance of the rear portion tending to turn or tilt it vertically, andin order to prevent such undue tilting and to provide Yfor coun,- t erbalancing and raising the tail of the ma'- chine in unison with the forward vportion so as to fenable. a' comparatively ascent of the machine bodily to be made without materially affecting its substantially horizontal normal position, I provide at or and preferably planes thereof,

raise the forward between the upper and lower Va horizontally rotatable auxiliary propeller 29 which is fixed upon a shaft 30 journaled to rotate vertically in bearings 31 mounted on the frame of the machine. The lower end f .of this shaft is provided with a beveled gear 32 inr mesh with a beveled gear 33 fixed on a horizontal shaft 34 which is journaled at one end in a bearing 35 on the frame and extends at its opposite end through a bearing 36 on the crank case 4 into axial alinement with the engine shaft 5 within said case.

Slidably splined on this end of said shaft is a clutch cone 3T which is normally held yieldably engaged with a clutch cup 38 on v the gear 9 of the engine shaft by the tension lof a coiled spring 39 interposed between the bearing 36 and a peripheially grooved collar 40 on said cone, the latter beingv provided with an actuating lever 41 pivoted in the case 4 and carrying exteriorly thereof a foot pedal 42 for manually operating the clutch to control the driving of the auxiliary propeller from the shaft of the engine.

In connection with the above described mechanism for the operation and control of the main and auxiliary propellers the machine may also be provided as usual with suitable steering and controlling means, such as vertical and 'horizontal rudders, one form in a limited shaft 13 by nwith the hand wheel 27 propeller 19 toexert an upward lifting force tudinal space. abrupt of each' of which is indicated at 43 and 44 respectively, the former being shown as connected by cables 45 for operation through the oscillating movement of the pivotcd seat 26, and the latter by cables 46 leading to controlling members 47 arranged adjacent said seat for manipulation by the driver. For supportin `the 'machine upon land oi water any suita le foi'in of landing gear and floats may be employed.

In operating a machine equipped with my improved, ropelling means as described so as to ascend abruptly from the ground withrunning space, the main propeller shaft 18 is first tilted or raised upward angularly relative to the body of the machine through .the turning of the rockrotation of the control shaft 25 so as to'cause the `upon the forward end of the machine. The auxiliary propeller being normally in driving engagement with the engine shaft will be caused, to'exertan upward lifting force upon the rear end of the machine simultaneously with the application ofthe power of the engine to drive the main propeller, hence the machine will be caused to rise bodily and quickly within acomparativcly short longi- When the desired altitude has been reached with the propellers operating as .above described, `the main'propeller may be returned to its normal substantially horizontal position by a reverse operation of the hand wheel 27, and the auxiliary propeller may be -released from the driving power by depressing the foot pedal 42 to retract the clutch 37 and disconnect the shaft 34 from driving engagement with the engine i when the machine will be caused to travel horizontally forwardly under the power of the main propeller in the usual manner.

In addition to the use, as is common, of tail rudders and elevators for steering and controlling the course of the machine, the auxiliary propeller may be operated to assist in elevating the tail of the machine when desirous of quickly deiectin the course of the machine downwardly, an when descendingL the uses of this propeller in conjunction with the mainpropeller in the upward tilted position will serve to check the descent and enable a gradual landing of the machine to be made within a comparatively small space.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. In an airplane, the combination with the planes and body of the machine, of an engine mounted thereoma vertical shaft in driving engagement with said engine, a rockshaft in transverse alineinen't to said vertical shaft, a main propeller shaft journalcd at one end in said rock-shaft and at its opposite end in an arcuate guide-way and adapted to swing with the movement of said lill mamar about the axis of said shaft to angularpostions relative to said planes, driving connections between said vertical shaft and said propeller shaft operative at all positions f the latter, manually controlled means ffor actuating said rock-shaft, an auxiliary horizontally rotatable pro eller mounted upon a vertical axis interme iate the ends of said machine, and drivin connections `between said auxiliary propel er and said engine.

2. lin an airplane, the combination with the body of the machine, of an engine lmounted on said body and lhaving a gear case extension thereon, a rock-shaft journaled in said gear case and carrying a loose gear thereon, a driving connection between saiol gear and the shaft of 'the engine, a

main adjustable propeller shaft loosely received'at one end transversely in said rockshaft and Journaled 1n bearings mounted to move in arcuate guides concentric to the axis of said rook-shaft, a driving connection between said loose gear .and said propeller shaft operative in all positions of the latter, f

said propeller, and an auxiliary horizontally Vrotatable propeller operatively vassociated. with said engine and adapted to be driven simultaneouslylwth said main propeller in any of its adjusted positions.

3.- In` an airplane, the combination with the planes and body thereof, of an engine mounted thereon, a vertical shaft driven by the engine, a rock shaft transverse to said vertical shaft, a pro ellershaft transverse to said rock shaft an journaled at one end therein, means for guiding the' propeller shaft in an angular movement actuable by the rock shaft, a driving connection between said vertical shaft and the propeller shaft operative in all positions of the latter, and means for actuating the rock shaft.

`In testimony whereof l sign this specification. s

FRANK J. BAUMAN; 

